


Did You Mean It?

by 47tuc



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, M/M, Season 6 Spoilers, Shiro is too, season 6
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-21
Updated: 2018-06-21
Packaged: 2019-05-26 07:47:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14996174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/47tuc/pseuds/47tuc
Summary: In the aftermath of Lotor's defeat and Shiro's re-awakening, Keith grapples with a certain few words he spoke while fighting for his--their--lives.





	Did You Mean It?

“Did you mean it?”

Keith whipped around from his perch on the dusty asteroid cliff, a quiet gasp he tried to hide escaping his lips at the words of the familiar silhouette behind him.

Before Keith could even process the question, the figure let out a stilted chuckle, his deep voice heating Keith through, as it always had. Always would. “I, um… didn’t mean to startle you, Keith.”

“Oh, no, that’s okay, Shiro,” he replied, allowing the question to go unanswered, an uncomfortable silence descending between them. Well, uncomfortable for _Keith_.

“So, uh… did the group finish setting things up?” _Masterful deflection, genius._

Shiro smiled, a knowing glint in his eye as he moved to sit next to Keith at the cliffside. “Yeah, looks like we can hang out here until the coalition arrives to patch up the lions and pick up our guests. Right now Hunk is scouring around for something to eat. I’m sure he could make a gourmet meal out of little more than this dirt, huh?”

Keith nodded, willing Shiro to forget about those words he’d said to bring Shiro back to himself from within the depths of his clone’s memories. He wrung his hands, no longer sure of how to talk to his own best friend.

“So… did you, Keith?”

 _Fuck_.

Keith turned his head to face Shiro, his eyes as wide as a space abyss and his stomach as empty as one. He knew what Shiro was asking, but pretended otherwise. He scoffed at himself. _Feelings_. “I, um… what do you mean?”

Shiro’s gaze held his for a moment before he looked down at the vast, deserted wasteland before them. “You called me your brother back there,” he said evenly.

Keith felt relief and disappointment join in on his already crowded inner tumult like a packed train car, carrying him away to destinations anew. Oh… _those_ words. “Yeah… of course I did.”

He hated them now, but when he was younger, those words were his lifeblood. Despite the years that had passed, the man Keith idolized in the foster home was still the same in so many ways. He’d always looked up to the strength of his broad shoulders, the intelligence that honed his confidence, and later, the sharp cut of his jaw and piercing eyes that made Keith’s admiration feel more like… something else.

Shiro was his family, but it wasn’t until he found himself fighting for both his and Shiro’s lives that Keith finally allowed himself to accept that Shiro was much, much more.

_I love you._

“You can’t know what that means to me.”

“Uhh… wh-what?” Keith stuttered.

Shiro twisted to face Keith more fully, his shrewd eyes surely analyzing the evidence of his walk down memory lane all over his damn face. The abyss of his stomach took his heart and lungs with it, Keith unable to function under Shiro’s undivided attention.

Shiro paused before grinning as the delicate moment passed. “It’s okay, Keith. I just… thank you. For saving me. Again.”

Keith looked away as he felt the turning up of his lips, the words coming automatically. “As many times as it takes.”

Shiro huffed out a breath as his gaze ripped away, face suddenly twisting up in conflict, complemented by a flush blooming on his cheeks.

Keith stopped breathing as his mind fabricated what-ifs that could explain the uncharacteristic way Shiro’s eyes refused to meet his own. He felt his surroundings blur to inconsequential nothingness in comparison, holding his breath for Shiro’s next words.

Shiro finally spoke, his voice subdued, Keith ready to hang on every word. “Um, Keith, when you said--”

“Hey, NERDS! Last one to the black lion’s uglier than Haggar!”

“Ohh you wanna play it like _that_ , pretty boy? Well vrepit _sa_ , mothertrucker!”

Both turned at the yells, the moment splintered by Lance and Hunk. _Fucking Lance_.

Shiro’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “I, um, better go make sure they don’t break anything. It’s been… home, for a while, afterall.”

Keith nodded, not realizing how tightly he’d clenched his fingers together until Shiro was clear across the dusty plateau.

\----

They lit a fire in front of a cave, preparing rations Hunk had tucked away on the yellow lion. Keith sat near the cave’s mouth, letting the shadows obscure his face that couldn’t stay turned away from Shiro.

As the flickers of light danced across Shiro’s new lightened hair, the familiar scar across his face, and the new crinkles at the corners of his eyes, Keith knew he was in trouble.

When those shrewd eyes met his own and lit up with a smile that outshined the blazing fire in front of him, Keith decided he wasn’t in trouble.

He was colossally _screwed_.

Keith stayed in his spot alone, even as the group convened to talk about the plan for reuniting with the coalition, how to repair the lions for the journey, and how many provisions they had. He tuned out their voices, his mind busy with plans about how he could still act like a normal human being-- _err, hybrid_?--around Shiro.

He was glad then for his status as a loner, as no one questioned his self-imposed isolation. Before Keith knew it, the group started to retire for the night. Pidge, Hunk, and Lance decided it would be “super fun” to have a video game-laden sleepover in her lion, while the rest disappeared from the clearing, walking towards the remaining lions in silence. After a worried look from Krolia, she eventually left, too.

When the scenery around him quieted and all that remained of the fire were its soothing, warm embers, Keith too felt himself cool off from his worries. Keith made his way towards the black lion on a mental autopilot, ready to be alone and gather his thoughts about Shiro.

He could figure out how to deal with all of this tomorrow.

Yet as his feet ate up the dirt between him and his lion, hope sprang eternal in his mind and weaved tales of his cliffside conversation with Shiro. Why would Shiro have… blushed like that? What was he going to say before Lance came along screaming like a baby Olkari? If he told Shiro what he really meant, would that ruin everything? Shiro had claimed to always have his back, but what if this changed everything?

Or worse, it changed _nothing_?

Lost in his thoughts, Keith stepped into the cockpit of the black lion and paused at seeing the tuft of white hair peeking over the seat.

His heart stopped in his throat, but he managed some words, anyway. “Oh, u-um, sorry Shiro, I guess I just came here--”

Shiro sat up and waved him off. “No, no, I’m sorry. The black lion has chosen you. I can go--”

“There’s room here for both of us,” Keith replied quickly, not believing the _fucking words_ coming out of his mouth, as if his deepest desires took over his higher order thinking.

He’d have to ask Pidge about that later.

Shiro stood; they faced each other within the cramped confines of the lion’s head, staring as if seeing each other for the first time.

“Really, it’s okay, Shiro.”

“No, no, it’s not,” Shiro barked, his voice echoing over the sharp planes of the cockpit.

Keith reflexively stepped back, flashbacks of Shiro’s manipulation at the hands of the Galra fresh in his mind. “What… what’s wrong? Shiro, are you--”

Shiro closed his eyes and shook his head, curtailing Keith’s question. “It’s not fair to you,” he spoke to the ground, his words barely a whisper.

“What’s not fair? If this is about the black lion, you can _have_ it--”

“No. It’s not that, Keith,” he rasped, looking up at Keith once more, a plea in his eyes, his eyebrows trying in vain to meet each other in the middle.

Frustration uncoiled within Keith, distilling into anger as he considered his words. His fuse was never a very long one, and was recently cut to the quick thanks to the confusing warmth that suffused him everytime Shiro was near. “Then _what_? What could _possibly_ be wrong?” he yelled.

“I lied, Keith,” he replied a little louder, exasperated, but Keith suspected that was more directed at himself.

“You… you what?”

“And I’m afraid of what it would mean if I told the truth,” Shiro continued.

That goddamn hope turned into a supernova within the confines of his still heart.

“Shiro…” his anger dissolved at the vulnerability etched across Shiro’s face. “You can always talk to me.”

Shiro’s eyes traced across Keith’s face, squinting as if searching for something. “I lied, when I said I was glad you called me brother. I wanted you to say… I wanted you to say that you didn’t mean it, Keith.”

“What are you saying?” Keith whispered.

Shiro stepped forward into Keith’s space without warning, ripping the breath from Keith’s lungs. Shiro’s hands covered his shoulders and slid up to cup his neck as he leaned in, eyes unshakable in their commitment to meeting Keith’s own.

“Because,” Shiro began, his voice cracking. “Because I don’t see you as a brother. I haven’t, not for a while. When--when we were fighting Zarkon, I worried so much for the team, and Voltron, and hell, the whole universe… but more than anything I worried I… I’d never see you again, Keith.”

“Shiro…”

Those hands that reminded Keith of home slid up to his cheeks, wiping off the tears Keith didn’t realize he’d been crying.

“I was worried I wouldn’t see you... before I told you the truth.”

Shiro’s thumb traced Keith’s parted lips as he slipped his Galra tech arm to the small of Keith’s back, sending an array of electricity up and down Keith’s spine. With a gentle pull, Shiro eased their bodies flush, Keith easily melting against him, fitting together like two halves of a whole.

And then, _oh god_ , an undignified moan from within Keith’s chest escaped him as Shiro’s lips met his own in a soft, chaste, kiss.

In his thoughts and dreams long denied, he’d imagined Shiro’s lips; he’d wondered if they’d taste sweet like his smiles, if they’d be as warm as his soul, or if they’d yield under pressure or hold strong as Shiro always did. As he wrapped his arms around Shiro’s shoulders and tugged him impossibly close, he knew his dreams had nothing on reality.

On his _Shiro_.

Shiro pulled back from the kiss but his hold on Keith remained strong. He pressed his forehead to Keith’s, sighing in what Keith presumed was relief.

He felt it too, after all.

“Because I love you too, Keith.”

**Author's Note:**

> Yesss I know, Shiro's arm is gone, but it's too late now haha :) Thank you for reading! You can find me on Tumblr, 47tuc


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